By Martin Hutchinson Contributing EditorMoney Morning Between September 2007 and June 2008, oil prices doubled, gold rose 30% and commodities, in general, advanced by a similar percentage. So why, six months later, when prices have fallen back below last year’s levels, does everybody think they won’t rise again? The difficulties of extraction haven’t gone away, […]
Archives for December 2008
December 2008 - Page 6 of 11 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From
Fed Policymakers to Cut Rates Today … But Does Anyone Really Care?
By Don Miller Contributing Writer Money Morning With the economy in a tailspin, the U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers will today (Tuesday) almost certainly cut the benchmark Federal Funds rate from its current 1.0% to 0.5%. So the question no longer seems to be whether the Fed will ease, but whether the move will make any […]
Buy, Sell or Hold: For a Defensive Stock, Wal-Mart Plays a Great Offense
In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott Jr. said the recession is changing consumer-buying habits. What Scott didn’t say is that Wal-Mart is perfectly positioned to capitalize on those changes. “The No.1 issue today is [consumers'] concern about their job," Scott […]
Global Investing Roundups
MAN AG Buying VW Brazil Unit; Siemens Settles Probe for $2 Billion; Mattel Pays $12 Million for Tainted Toys; Ireland Banks Getting a Bailout; Housing Market Facing Confidence Collapse; Boeing Raises Dividend; U.S. Homes Lose $2 Trillion in Value Technorati Profile German manufacturing and engineering titan MAN AG said it will acquire Volkswagen Truck and […]
ECB Strikes Hawkish Tone on Interest Rates as U.S. Fed Plans Further Cuts
By Jason Simpkins Associate EditorMoney Morning While the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark Federal Funds target rate to a record-low 0.5% at its policymaking Federal Open Market Committee meeting tomorrow (Tuesday), the European Central Bank (ECB) is signaling a reluctance to drop its key rate below 2.0%. Since the Euro-region slipped […]
Toyota to Slash 2009 Sales Outlook, Cut Costs
By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Money Morning Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR:TM) may not need a government bailout, but it's hurting badly. The world's top automaker said it will announce a revised 2009 sales forecast at its end-of-the-year news conference Dec. 22. The company is expected to slash at least 1 million cars from its original […]
White House Opens TARP to Auto Industry after Congress Fails to Approve Loans
By Jason Simpkins Associate EditorMoney Morning The Bush administration Friday dropped its opposition to using the $700 billion bank bailout fund to provide financing for U.S. automakers after the Senate balked at approving $14 billion emergency loans. "Because Congress failed to act, we will stand ready to prevent an imminent failure until Congress reconvenes and […]
Fed May Cut Rates Again as Policymakers Meet
By William Patalon IIIExecutive EditorMoney Morning/The Money Map Report After U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers meet today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday), most experts expect a half a percentage point cut in the benchmark Federal Funds Rate – which is already 1.0%. That doesn’t leave members of the central bank’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) much […]
Plunging Auto & Gas Sales Hurt Retail Sales in November
By Don Miller Contributing Writer Money Morning Dragged down by plunging gasoline prices and an auto industry struggling for survival, retail sales fell by 1.8% in November for a record fifth straight month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. But a historic drop in retail gasoline prices and auto sales may have exaggerated the decline. […]
Latest Delays With Boeing's Dreamliner Puts Program Two Years Behind Schedule
By William Patalon IIIExecutive EditorMoney Morning/The Money Map Report The Boeing Co. (BA). is pushing back the schedule of its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet program by about six months as it works to unwind delays caused by the recently concluded union-machinists strike, and by thousands of improperly installed fasteners on the first couple of jetliners […]